The former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has praised Afghanistan for their powerful performance over Australia, to seal their maiden victory against the opponent, during the crucial game of the ‘super stage’ of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA).
The Rashid Khan-led side came into the contest on the back of tremendous group stage performances, where they got the better of New Zealand. Their defeat in the first ‘Super Eight’ game against India in Barbados pushed them to a position where they had to win their last two games.
The opponent for Afghanistan was Australia, who were by then unbeaten in the ninth edition of the tournament, including wins over England, Oman, Scotland, and Namibia in the group stage and against Bangladesh in a rain-hit affair in the first ‘super-eight’ clash in Antigua.
‘You were up against one of the toughest opponents’- Shoaib Akhtar on Afghanistan team
When the schedule of the tournament came out, the game was already before the eyes of the Afghanistan players, on the back of what happened at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, around eight months ago, where they did all the hard work, not to be undone by a brilliant knock from Glenn Maxwell.
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They were near, they even smelt the win, but they stood there and were pushed far behind by the tornado. The best surface to face Australia for Afghanistan was always going to the Arnos Vale Ground, in Kingstown, where it’s slow and the spinners would love the conditions always.
Winning the toss, the Australia captain, Mitchell Marsh, quite surprisingly decided to chase on that surface. The opening stand of Afghanistan, consisting of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put on an opening partnership of 118 runs in 15.5 overs, where the former was dismissed on 60 runs in 49 balls, with the help of four boundaries and as many as sixes. Zadran ended up with 51 runs in 48 balls.
They struggled a little towards the back of the innings, in finishing but somehow managed to get them to the 148/6 mark, in their 20-overs, which was expected to be critical if they picked wickets regularly.
On the third ball of the chase, the pacer Naveen Ul Haq sent back Tavis Head, who could manage a three-ball duck in the process. The captain, himself, didn’t fire, while David Warner too couldn’t show his power. Maxwell again stood there for his 59 runs in 41 balls, while Marcus Stoinis was nailing the boundaries from the other end.
Once Maxwell got out, the batting came under pressure, and everyone fell like a pack of cards. Gulbadin Naib, who was the eighth bowler being used by the Afghanistan team, ended up with figures of 4/20 in four overs. They were bundled out for 127 in their 19.2 overs, losing the game by 21 runs.
In a video posted on his ‘X’ handle, Shoaib Akhtar used an analogy of the remarkable victory of the Afghanistan team and their achievements.
‘Woh kehete hain na hathi sher se 100x badha hota hein aur 80x samajdhar hota hain (They say that the elephant is 100x bigger than the lion and 80x smarter), they took the elephant as their lunch.’ Shoaib Akhtar tweeted.
The Rawalpindi-born Shoaib Akhtar also feels that Afghanistan showed the right attitude and craze for their game in taking revenge over Australia.
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‘They ate them, so attitude matters a lot. Today, Afghanistan not only got their revenge but also showed great intent. And what excellent leadership was displayed by Rashid Khan.’ Shoaib Akhtar added. ‘They say leadership is 80% mentality, 20% skill. That’s the reason they were able to take down such a big elephant for lunch.’
‘And as for the mighty Australia, whom no one can defeat, who plays the best World Cup cricket- agreed, no one can play the World Cup better than you, but you were up against one of the toughest opponents whose attitude was like lions.’ The former pacer Shoaib Akhtar finished.
Afghanistan’s last ‘super-eight’ game is another must-win contest over Bangladesh at the same ground.